Dad Update + Sarah’s Housewarming

 ^^My dad and I^^

My dad has been having some health issues for the past few months which has been scary and has resulted in a few really urgent, answer a crying phone call, leave work and drive 4+ hours straight to the hospital in the Gorge to be there with him trips. After they figured out what was going on with him it became clear that he needed a few surgeries to get him back to healthy and one was last Thursday in Hood River. I drove down to White Salmon after work on Wednesday and really, really early Thursday morning my mom, dad and I went to the hospital in Hood River for surgery. It went well and the photo above was taken right after, while he’s trying to wave to the camera (see: blur at bottom of photo). The best. He has one surgery left, a big one, at OHSU, then hopefully he will be back to business as usual.

Friday my dad was home and confined to his recliner and I worked from home so I could hang out with him (read: make him sit the FUCK DOWN, and wait on him hand and foot! – he was much better this time around) while my mom and brother were at work. We watched a lot of the Price is Right (which brother Jim and I got tickets to go to in person in October!!) and extreme Alaska survival shows, and gold mining shows, etc. You get the picture. There was also a lot of snuggling with Fluffy and dancing Zumba dances on the patio (for me, not him) and working furiously on my laptop (for me, not him) drinking tea and ranting about things we hate.

Saturday my mom was home and I got to sneak out to go visit Joe and Karen for a bit which was the best.

And did I tell you that my friend Sarah bought a house? Well, if not, Sarah bought a house! In Hood River. It’s really beautiful. So Saturday evening we had a housewarming party to celebrate her being a grown-up (yay Sarah!! I’m so proud of you!!) and it was really fun. It was so nice to take a break from family stuff and spend some time with good friends while drinking a Moscow Mule (or 2…) and eating grilled meat. Oh, and petting Kiva dog.

Oh, and good story: at one point during the night I went to use Sarah’s restroom and had my phone in my back pocket which is never a smart idea. Pulled down pants, phone fell in toilette, I immediately picked it out, dried it off, used restroom, phone was still working, told Sarah, she freaked out, we put my phone in a cocoon of a million wool socks and put it in the dryer on low heat and it somehow, still works?! I’ll take it. And hopefully I’ll never do that again.

^^Sarah and I attempting to take a picture^^

 ^^Friends doing fancy tequila shots to celebrate^^

^^Sarah’s childhood BFF, Lindsay, and me. We bonded. She is the coolest^^ 

Before Sarah had even signed the papers on her new house I called dibs on the spare bedroom the night of her housewarming party (I guess this was also pre-deciding-she-was-having-a-housewarming-party too, but whatevs). I spent the night at Sarah’s with a few of her (our?) other out of town friends and the next morning we watched some bad netflix, played ladder ball in the sunny front yard and eventually walked to a local restaurant for pancakes. Yay for grown-up (non-sexual) sleepovers :):)

It was nice to be back at home for so many days in a row, see friends, hang with my family, and snuggle the shit out of Fluffy (so many naps). I can’t wait to go back!

Beth and Sarah’s Seattle Visit

This weekend two of my best friends, Beth and Sarah, rode the train up (from the homeland) to come visit me in Seattle. I rarely have visitors in Seattle so it was an extra fun weekend for me. We ate Indian food at Taste of India, had two nights of girlfirend sleepovers in my tiny apartment, ate too much at brunch, went shopping in the sunshine, swooped up my friend Amy and met up with Dustin and his friend, my coworker Dave and his 2 friends at the EMP where we visited the Scream Booth in the horror exhibit and we paid extra to go into the really cool Star Wars room (I’m not even a big fan and I still thought it was neat). After that we had lunch with Amy, somehow managed to be freezing cold despite the sunshine, got FroYo despite our chills and then collapsed at my apartment for a few hours. Saturday night we met my friends Brittan and Natalie for a drink and it was one of the happiest moments for me. 4 of my besties, all together at once! In Seattle! We ended up at a shitty dive bar in Ballard that was also a Chinese restaurant and Beth miiiight have got sick and we miiiiight have went home early. But not after we discovered that Sarah (AKA Grandma) can drink like. a. boss. It was my favorite moment. Then Sarah and I drunk reheated our Indian food leftovers and baked frozen mac and cheese bites and ate it all standing up in my kitchen while Beth laid on my bathroom floor and yelled at us for making noises and smells. None of that has happened in one night since like, law school and it was so fun (minus Beth feeling terrible). They left too early on Sunday and I laid around for a while before meeting up with Dustin for open house-ing and sunshine beer drinking and Oscar watching. Legit weekend in Seattle. #isitfridayyet?

^^Me, Sarah, Beth and Amy actually screaming really loud in a booth at the EMP^^
  ^^Amy, Beth, me and Sarah, still at the EMP (PS at 5’4” how am I the tallest one in the group?!)^^

Day of Caring 2014 and a Heart Concert

This past weekend seemed to kick off a day early because instead of a normal work day on Friday, my team at work participated in United Way’s Day of Caring. For day of caring, almost 12,000 people in King County spent the day volunteering at various nonprofits in the area. My group chose Little Bit Therapudic Riding Center. Little Bit is a 17 acre ranch that houses 40 horses that provide life-changing physical benefits to disabled children (and adults) including strengthening muscles, preventing bone weakness and joint dislocation, improving balance, and enhancing hand/eye coordination. These benefits improve a rider’s overall health, which, in turn, can increase life expectancy. They also ripple into other aspects of daily living: promoting confidence and independence, improving communication skills and peer interaction, enhancing concentration and memory, stimulating problem-solving, and providing achievable goals. I spent most of the day there cleaning the office area (an office attached to a riding arena and barn gets really dusty really quick) which isn’t the sexiest volunteer job, but one of the perks was that I was able to watch some of the children on the horses. It was really inspiring to see the effect the horses have on their riders. It made me realize I should probably give back more of my time to awesome organizations like Little Bit.

^^Most of Microsoft’s LCA Corporate team at Little Bit on 9/19/14^^

We wrapped up our volunteering a little earlier than I would normally wrap up a day at the office, so I took the opportunity to head out of Seattle toward Hood River before traffic got too bad (some of my coworkers went back to the office – over achievers! ha).

I drove back to Hood River and immediately met up with Beth and Sarah for dinner. Beth never gets Friday nights off (she manages a really delicious and popular restaurant in White Salmon and Fridays are always busy) so I had to take full advantage of the fact that she was off on a night when I was in town. We had dinner then wandered out to grab drinks with friends.

^^L->R: Sarah, Beth, Justin, Huggie and Tonya at the British Pub^^

Sarah was a grandma and went home to go to bed early(ish), but Beth and I stayed out later until we eventually wandered back to Josh and Sarah’s to crash in their spare bedroom instead of driving home #responsibledecisions

Saturday I grabbed a green smoothie (which I’m trying to drink more of) from the Juice Bros and then went to my parents’ house to snuggle with my cats for a bit. Everyone knows about Fluffy, but this is Fluffy’s Grandma, Socks. She is probably the oldest outdoor cat EVER (she is like 22), she is so sweet (except to Fluffy), she still hunts and until last year she had kittens every single year. I was convinced she was going to die when I went to college like 10 years ago, but she’s still going strong.

^^Fluffy’s grandma: Socks^^

After cat time I headed to my BFF’s Grandma’s home for Grandma Bev’s birthday party. I spent a lot of time in Middle and High School at Katie’s Grandma’s house (Katie lived with her Grandma) and she knew both of my parents when they were kids too. She has always been really wonderful to me and I don’t get to see her nearly as much as I’d like, so it was nice to chat with her and hear all the things she’s grumpy about these days ;) hint: she hates the way downtown White Salmon has evolved haha.

I had to leave the party a little early because Beth, Sarah and I had tickets to see Heart perform at Edgefield!! We went a little early to wander around the gardens and have dinner and enjoy one of the last nice days of summer outside. There were a TON of people at the show so we ended up sitting pretty far back but we still had a great time.

^^Beth and I in the garden^^

^^L->R: Me, Sarah, Beth waiting for the concert to start^^

 
^^Heart performing (thanks Sarah for the pic)^^

Sunday morning I had breakfast with Josh and Katie at Pioneer Pizza (their eggs benedict pizza is on point) before packing up and heading back to Seattle.

^^Of course I chose the cat mug at Pioneer^^

I think I mentioned that I’m on the go for the next million weekends in a row, but these busy weekends have been fun, so I’m hoping the trend will continue. I think I’m finally getting adjusted to being gone every weekend (I feel less overwhelmed this week), and I’m looking forward to lots of good things coming up like: Hops Fest, LAS VEGAS, and hunting season!

Cheers!!

a concert, friendship and hood river summer goodness

This weekend I headed back down to the Columbia River Gorge for the second weekend in a row. I got to Hood River right around dinner time. I met Gaby for a margarita and some chips and salsa before heading to Sarah’s house. I got there a little before her so I took some selfies with my favorite dog, Kiva:

When Sarah, Tonya and Gaby finally got to Sarah’s, we all walked down to the waterfront to have dinner at Sarah and my favorite restaurant, Solstice.  There was a bit of a wait for a table so we headed next door to the new distillery, Camp 1805. They are in their soft opening phase so we tried some their mini-cocktails (that only have about a 1/2 shot of alcohol in them and are served in mini-glasses) before dinner. They were fantastic. So was dinner!

After dinner Sarah and I were walking back to her house when we ran into our friend Abbey. Sarah decided to go home and I hung out with Abbey for a bit before Beth text me to let me know she was off work and headed to my favorite dive bar, The Red Carpet! I met her and some of her work friends for a beer, some girl talk, and some jukebox jams/dancing. It was a fun time.

The next day I met Beth at Lampoei’s food truck for some Thai food before Christa joined us and we headed down to the Hood River for some sunshine.

^^Christa and Beth taking a selfie on the tiny beach^^

After the beach, Beth and I headed to her house to change before she went to work and I went to a concert at Edgefield. Edgefield is a McMenamins property in Troutdale, OR (which is just outside Portland). It was originally built as a poor farm in the early 1900s and then was transformed into a resort of sorts. On the grounds there is a hotel, a golf course, multiple restaurants, even more bars (some tiny, some bigger), a winery, a distillery, a brewery, a soaking pool, a glass blowing studio, a movie theater, etc. It’s very charming. They also have outdoor concerts there. This was my first one at the venue, NONONO and Foster the People were playing. They were really great, high energy and entertaining live. Sarah, Gaby and I had a blast! It was so nice out (despite being REALLY hot until the sun went down) and we had a really great time listening to live music and people watching in the grass.

^^left to right: me, Sarah, Gaby^^

After the concert we ran back to our car and got out of the parking lot just in time to escape the horrible traffic. We headed back to Hood River and got into town right about when Beth was getting off work. Beth and I went to the Pub for a drink where we ran into our friends Tonya and Christa. We ended up taking shots and going to Jack’s to dance them off. I’m not going to lie, my legs are still a little sore from dropping it low with the girls. Dance parties are my favorite!

The only down side to the night was when I ended up waiting over an HOUR for a cab back to White Salmon. It was so ridiculous and the cab driver didn’t have enough room in his cab when he finally arrived so I ended up in the “trunk” of his Subaru because I refused to wait alone for another cab back to White Salmon. Ha! Whatever, spooning with my favorite Fluffy cat that night was worth cab-waiting, trunk riding and not sleeping on a friend’s couch.

Sunday I woke up to my dad making me huckleberry pancakes (with freshly picked huckleberries), ham and eggs. It was awesome. I then had the most uncomfortable run-in with an old friend on the street in downtown Hood River who looked physically uncomfortable/upset that he had to talk to me for like 1 minute (WTF?) which in turn made me really upset and so I immediately got in my car while saying “what the F*CK” out loud, and drove straight to Portland to meet my cousin Tad and his girlfriend for lunch. We ate at Beaches on the Columbia River and it was so great to catch up with them. Hooray for positive encounters that make me feel a million times better. Overall, my heart is full from a really wonderful weekend.

Today at work I was telling my coworker, Justin, about my awkward encounter and he had some really great insight on the whole thing. He basically told me that I’m like an excited puppy who just loves everyone so much and I’m so excited to see everyone and that’s overwhelming for some people (introverts), especially if they are having a bad day or were unprepared to run into someone and have a conversation. He also said that while I enjoy maintaining relationships with everyone near and far, for most people maintaining friendships with people who are far away and who they rarely see/talk to is hard and disappointing because when you’d like them to be there, they aren’t and it’s hard to deal with that. He said he mentally puts people like that in a box and just puts them off to the side because he can’t cope. I’m just going to assume he and my other friend are the same way and not let it make me feel bad anymore. Because, if I’m being totally honest, that encounter kind of ruined my day. And then it made me feel upset that it affected me so much and I didn’t understand why I felt so bad after an awkward run in with that person. It’s not like I’m super close with that person. I was just excited to see them and it wasn’t reciprocated and it sucked. On my way back to Seattle, though, I was thinking about it and I think that the thing that fulfills me most in the world is meaningful relationships with other people. All the other things I do come second to my interactions and connections to others. I think the people I love the most understand and reciprocate that and it makes me love them even more. I’m a total lover! And apparently (duh) a total extrovert.

Anyway, most of the weekend was so good and was filled with so many good people. It really was a wonderful time. I just wish my favorite weekends lasted more than 2 days!

Easter Weekend 2014

This past weekend was spent with some of my favorites people Seattle. My friend Sarah came up Friday after work for the weekend and my friends Danielle and Steffen were in town for a wedding. Friday night I had nachos and ginger beer margaritas waiting at my apartment for Sarah and I to eat when she got into town. After our late dinner we grabbed an Uber downtown to meet up with Danielle and Steffen for a drink (at the weirdest bar I've ever been to in Seattle). We stayed for one $2.50 vodka soda, a few songs about marijuana and minimum wage and anal beads (WTF? Open Mic Night) before we headed back to my apartment to get some rest.

Saturday Sarah and I went to the always packed Portage Bay Café in South Lake Union for a reallllly delicious breakfast. Luckily we had a reservation so we didn't have to wait long for a table. That being said, it's totally worth the wait. Go there for breakfast if you're ever in Seattle. After breakfast I dropped Sarah off downtown for her Taxidermy class. She taxidermied (is that the right word?) a rat. It was weird and cool and totally random. I feel like she needs to forever use that fact in random icebreaker exercises.

After I dropped Sarah off at her class, I met Danielle and Steffen at Pike Place Market. It was pouring rain but it wasn't too cold so we walked around, they got some Beecher's Mac and Cheese, we looked at flowers (see above pictures) and eventually we found a covered, outside table where we got three coffees and sat catching up for a bit before they had to leave to get ready for the wedding they were attending that evening.

Saturday evening I picked up Sarah and we took forever deciding what we wanted to do for the night. We eventually settled on Indian food for dinner. We went to Taste of India which is my favorite Indian place in Seattle. It's near my house, and it's so random and amazing. The restaurant is in an old house and the outside is covered in tacky decorations and lights, but they have the best service and the food is great. We enjoyed some complimentary appetizers and chai while we waited for a table (the place was packed) and then enjoyed a really tasty meal.

After dinner we decided to go to Cinnebarre and watch The Grand Budapest Hotel while we drank an adult beverage. We both really liked the movie. In addition to being visually interesting (like all of Wes Anderson's movies) this movie seemed to really keep my attention and had more action than some of his other movies.

Sunday morning we got coffee before Sarah headed back to Hood River. I then headed to Josh and Katie's for Easter brunch. I usually spend Easter with Dustin but he was vacationing in Vegas (whhhatever Dustin haha). We had frittata, mimosas and cake. We played games and watched Now and Then. It was a relaxing, delicious Easter. And weekend in general!

Extra long weekend adventures in the Gorge

Almost two weeks ago I went back to White Salmon/Hood River for the weekend. My friend Beth was moving back from Boise (and into my parents' house) and it was her birthday weekend so some celebrations were in order.

I drove back to the Gorge on Thursday after work. When I got to town I met Sarah, Gaby and Launa for a drink at Brian's Pourhouse. After it was time for Sarah and Launa to go to bed, Gaby and I headed to Double Mountain to say hi to Josh and ended up hanging out with him for a while when he got off work, before calling it a night.

Friday I worked from home at my parents' house. I took advantage of my lunch break and spent it cleaning out my childhood room for Beth. I found so many Beanie Babies and ridiculous clothes and funny pictures when I was cleaning out my room. Oh memories! Needless to say I had a big load of things to go to Goodwill.

And of course Fluffy was there to keep me company during my cleaning.

 

Friday night Sarah joined me at Everybody's Brewing for some "networking," then Sarah, Josh and I talked about life and our futures over dinner at Solstice. Some commune dreaming happened for sure!

 

Saturday I got a haircut and then met Beth and her boss, Michael at Chip's for a beer as soon as she got into town. Nothing says "welcome to town" like a beer at a dive bar, amiright?

 

 

After we drank our beer and Beth settled into my parents' house and opened her birthday presents we headed down to Henni's for a welcome back birthday dinner with the crew.

 

 

After dinner we all headed across the river and met back up at Double Mountain to watch some friends play some music (Smoke on the Water) before heading to River City then eventually Jack's. Needless to say, Beth and I ended up having a sleepover at Josh and Sarah's.

 

^^alcohol induced inside jokes with some of my girlfriends^^

 

The next morning we woke up to a crazy and surprising amount of snow. We decided to walk to breakfast at River Daze while we waited for the roads to be plowed and our hangovers to subside.

 

 

 ^^Photo cred: Sarah (and her new awesome camera)^^

 

After breakfast Beth and I braved the roads to my parents' house. We stopped at Thriftway to get snacks along the way because we didn't anticipate being able to leave again once we got home. The drive up Snowden Rd. was super sketchy but eventually we made it and decided we were going to stay in for the rest of the day. There was no way I was driving back that night - the freeway from Hood River to Portland was under an ice advisory (oh yeah, after all the snow the freezing rain started immediately) and traction devices were required. Snowed in. I can't say I was too sad about having to work from home Monday (only a little).

 

^^My parents' road^^

 

We spent the evening watching the Oscars with my dad, hunting for ciders in the snow (funny story, we bought a 6-pack of ciders at the store and put them in the snow outside to keep them cold. My parents' have a German Shepard "puppy" who likes to hop over his fenced in area and come up to the house. He jumped over the fence, came up, stole the ciders and hid them in the snow in random places... After it happened we couldn't for the life of us figure out where they went. Such a trouble maker!), and being total fat kids.

 

I spent Monday working from home, eating breakfast with Dylan and Beth, and taking a break for a lunchtime beer with friends at Double Mountain #dontjudgeme the view was so pretty. That night, after work, I finally headed back to Seattle. It was so nice to be able to be "home" for an extended period of time, even if it wasn't totally planned and I ran out of clean clothes. Ha! I'm planning on heading back this weekend for the Double Mountain anniversary party (and because Dustin wants to go to Portland and we can split gas/driving) and I can't wait.